How to use American Airlines systemwide upgrades

there are many ways Upgrade your American Airlines flight. For example, you can Redeem American miles for upgrades or accept Paid upgrade offer. For eligible flights within North America, American Airlines A Advantage Elite members can expect free upgrade.

However, high-level travelers american airlines elite status and AAdvantage Million Miler Member There is also an opportunity to win system-wide upgrades. Here’s what you need to know about American Airlines’ system-wide upgrade.

What is American Airlines’ system-wide upgrade?

With American’s system-wide upgrades, you can change your paid fare for up to three segments one-way to the next class of service. As long as your trip includes at least one American Airlines flight, you can take advantage of American’s system-wide upgrades for:

Flights marketed and operated by American Airlines
Transatlantic flights marketed and operated by British Airways
Transatlantic flights operated by British Airways sold by American Airlines

American Airlines flights can use system-wide upgrades to:

From business to first class
Go from economy or premium economy to business on a three-cabin aircraft
From economy to first on a domestic flight on a two-cabin aircraft
Short-haul international flights from economy to business on two-cabin aircraft

Meanwhile, transatlantic British Airways flights can use a system-wide upgrade to:

From business to first class
From premium economy to business
From economy to premium economy

System-wide upgrades are only available for published individual fare tickets. System-wide upgrades may not be used to upgrade AAdvantage award tickets, complimentary tickets, military or other government fares, non-transparent fares, infant tickets, or additional seats purchased.

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How to get a system-wide upgrade

of Loyalty points rewards program is one way to earn system-wide upgrades at American Airlines. System-wide upgrades are available for selection at the following Loyalty Points milestones per eligibility period (i.e., upgrades must be selected over other benefits).

175,000 Loyalty Points: This milestone has one reward option. One option is a two-part system-wide upgrade.
250,000 Loyalty Points: There are two reward options for this milestone. One option is a two-part system-wide upgrade.
400,000 Loyalty Points: There are two reward options for this milestone. One option is to upgrade the entire system.
550,000 Loyalty Points: There are two reward options for this milestone. One option is to upgrade the entire system.
750,000 Loyalty Points: There are two reward options for this milestone. One option is to upgrade the entire system.
1 million points: This milestone has one reward option. One option is four system-wide upgrades.
3 million points: This milestone has one reward option. One option is six system-wide upgrades.
5 million points: This milestone has one reward option. One of the options is 10 upgrades of the entire system.

Additionally, Platinum Pro status requires 125,000 Loyalty Points per qualification period and Executive Platinum status requires 200,000 Loyalty Points. Therefore, if you earn Platinum Pro status with 125,000 Loyalty Points during this eligibility period, you will not be eligible for a system-wide upgrade. You will have the opportunity to select up to two system-wide upgrades only if you achieve Executive Platinum status with 200,000 Loyalty Points during this eligibility period.

AAdvantage members American Airlines Million Miler Status You can also earn system-wide upgrades by reaching certain milestones. When you reach 2 million miles toward AAdvantage Million Miler status, you’ll receive four system-wide upgrades. After that, you’ll get four more system-wide upgrades for every million miles you earn toward Million Miler status.

When does American Airlines’ system-wide upgrade expire?

Currently, system-wide upgrades expire one year after they are credited to your account. but, AAdvantage recently announced Effective March 1, 2025 and throughout your Status Membership year.

American Airlines 777-200 business class cabin. Zach Griff/The Point Guy

Therefore, if you earn 175,000 Loyalty Points during the qualification year ending February 28, 2025, and select two system-wide upgrades as an option for your 175,000-point Loyalty Point Reward, those system-wide upgrades will be in effect until March 31, 2026. AAdvantage will also extend the expiration date for system-wide upgrades earned between March 1, 2024 and February 1, 2024. From 28, 2025 to 31, March 2026.

You must confirm the upgrade using a system-wide upgrade before the expiration date, but migrations can still occur after the expiration date.

How to use American Airlines’ system-wide upgrade

Travelers tend to use American Airlines’ system-wide upgrades in one of three ways:

To book available flights system-wide and apply upgrades immediately
To set up award alerts for booked flights that currently have no seats available system-wide and apply upgrades as soon as seats appear
To join the waiting list for an upgrade on a long-haul flight you’ve already booked

Since 2016, my husband and I have used the first two strategies to complete system-wide upgrades 64 times on long-haul flights of 7 hours or more. So let’s take a look at how you can use American Airlines’ system-wide upgrade.

How to check overall system availability

Finding system-wide availability is probably the most difficult part of using system-wide upgrades. American Airlines recommends that members with System-Wide Upgrades log into their accounts on the American Airlines website and look for flights with a “System-Wide Upgrade” link on the results page.

Once you’ve found your flight options on this link, you can click on the link to see which classes are currently eligible for system-wide upgrades. If you are considering multi-segment options, you can see which segments can be upgraded system-wide.

Using the American Airlines website can help you find availability for system-wide upgrades, especially if you tend to book paid tickets at the last minute.

However, most travelers will find it easy to sign up for a paid membership. expert flyer (Owned by TPG’s parent company Red Ventures). This allows you to search for upgrade availability and set alerts for individual flights. To use the system-wide upgrade, you must find availability in the following fare buckets:

American Airlines Business to First Flights with 3 Cabins:A
Other American Airlines upgrades:C
British Airways Business to First flights:Z
British Airways Premium Economy to Business:U
From economy to premium economy on British Airways flights😛

With ExpertFlyer, you can search for availability of A and C upgrades on American Airlines flights using the “Benefits and Upgrades” section. Searching for system-wide upgrade availability by segment provides the most accurate results through ExpertFlyer. Therefore, we recommend using the “Connection Settings” dropdown to select only direct flights.

The ‘Seats’ column on the results screen will display the number of seats that may be available for reservation with the system-wide upgrade. To receive upgrade alerts for specific flights where upgrades are not currently available, click the exclamation mark next to the result.

For flights where you want to apply system-wide upgrades, we highly recommend setting up upgrade alerts by segment. This is better than waitlisting for system-wide upgrades on these flights, as you may be able to apply the upgrade before AAdvantage processes your waitlisted upgrade request.

How to request a system-wide upgrade

To see the number of unused system-wide upgrades and the expiration date of these upgrades, log into your American Airlines account and click[リワードハブ]is under[リワード]Click.[座席クーポン、アップグレード、パス]Under the[システム全体のアップグレード]A tile with the label will appear.

Click this tile to see detailed information about your system-wide upgrade, including when it was credited to your account and which system-wide upgrades you redeemed.

You can do it now Redeem your system-wide upgrade certificate online. To request a full system upgrade online,[システム全体のアップグレードを使用する]Click the button and enter your last name and verification code on the page that loads.

An informative page will load that explains how to apply a system-wide upgrade online.

You can then select the flight for which you would like to request a system-wide upgrade. In this case, there are currently no system-wide seats available on that flight, so your request will be placed on the waiting list without being confirmed.

Previously, applying system-wide upgrades required calling reservations, which was often time-consuming. Unfortunately, some journeys require a system-wide You will need a phone to apply the upgrade.

If your flight does not have room for an upgrade, you can waitlist your request for a flight operated by American Airlines. Requests on the waitlist are cleared in order based on the following priorities:

status level
upgrade type
12 consecutive months of loyalty points
reservation code
Date and time of waitlist request

If you put your request on the waitlist but haven’t cleared the waitlist by check-in, AAdvantage will add you to the standby list for airport upgrades. If your upgrade is removed from the airport’s upgrade standby list, AAdvantage will deduct the system-wide upgrade from your account.

Finally, if you have completed the system-wide upgrade but need to cancel your trip before departure, please call AAdvantage and ask them to restore the system-wide upgrade.

How do I earn miles when using system-wide upgrades?

Unfortunately, you’ll still earn American Airlines miles and loyalty points based on the fare class and cabin you originally booked.

Can others use my system-wide upgrade?

You can use system-wide upgrades for anyone you choose, even if you’re not traveling together. However, the terms and conditions for system-wide upgrades state that “upgrades are void if sold or advertised for sale for cash or other consideration.” So, you can gift a whole system upgrade to a friend, family member, or lucky stranger, but you shouldn’t receive anything in return.

conclusion

When you can clear American Airlines’ system-wide upgrades on a long-haul international flight, they are extremely valuable and feel like a big win. Sure, it’s possible to clear a system-wide upgrade a few days before your flight (or at the airport), but it’s also possible to do it months in advance.

High-frequency routes, where American Airlines offers multiple daily flights, have the best chance of qualifying for a system-wide upgrade. Traveling on off-peak days and seasons can also be helpful.

If you wish to use a system-wide upgrade on a long-haul international itinerary, we recommend that you first check for upgrade availability on your longest leg. Ideally, you’ll find and book an itinerary with an upgrade available on the longest segment, so you can clear it to a higher class of service with a system-wide upgrade immediately after booking. Otherwise, set up an upgrade alert or add yourself to the waitlist to receive system-wide upgrades as your flight approaches.

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